Donut Cities: Is Chicago’s shape shifting back to the historical center?

Donut Cities: the migratory flow of businesses, offices, and homes out of historic downtowns for the new suburbs, might finally be ending. This phenomenon began in the 1960s as urban blight was on the rise and shopping malls were taking hold. Families who traditionally lived downtown, fled for the homogenous safety of subdivisions and shopping malls.

Chicago has traditionally been textbook example. But researchers from University of Virginia are confirming a new trend that my peers and I have been witnessing and spearheading: a younger, more educated and higher income population, historically found in the suburbs, have begun to shift back to the core.

From the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center Demographics Research Group, here is a full article on their very interesting findings here.